February 2013 Conservation Notes

Solar Power Developments

Solar power is growing rapidly in many places. Some examples:

Greece, despite its financial crisis is blossoming with solar
systems based on Feed In Tariff (FIT) subsidies adopted in 2006. Greece
ranks third among all nations with 0.142 kilowatts (KW) of solar
photovoltaic (PV) per capita, trailing only Germany and Italy.

Solar power in Greece doesn’t surprise me. Around 20 years ago,
Catherine and I enjoyed a fine vacation in Greece. We were impressed by
solar hot water panels on the rooftops of nearly all large Grecian
residential buildings. In addition, some hillsides had large wind
turbine formations. At that time, curbing manmade global warming was
already my top environmental issue.

Japan, after Fukushima adopted an FIT program for renewables in
July, 2012. The response was huge. For solar PV, Japan pays the
equivalent of around US 50 cents per kWh and expected PV installations
totaling 2GW in 2012. Recent reports suggest Japan will reduce
subsidies this year.

France, highly dependent on nuclear power has suffered financially
as nuclear plants shut down because essential cooling water was too
warm or unavailable. France paid about 10 times its electric rate to
import electricity during heat waves in 2003, 2006 and 2009. Rising
global temperatures motivated France to adopt an FIT program paying
about 50 cents per kWh for solar PV. France expects to gradually reduce
its solar PV subsidies.

The US keeps failing to lead internationally in restraining obvious
climate change chaos, but US solar power use is perking up. In 2012,
despite mistakes and frustrations with project starts and stops, US
industry installed about 3.2 GW of solar PV capacity. That exceeded the
total of all solar PV capacity previously installed nationally.

Our Gainesville Regional Utility (GRU) continues to have its FIT
solar PV program sold out well in advance, despite small reductions in
subsidy payments. Gainesville has become one of the world’s leading
cities in kWh of solar PV per capita.

FIT programs are working extremely well in a few US locations and in
Canada’s Ontario Province. The obvious question is: Why not a national
US FIT system?

There are several reasons our Congress and the President ignore the
FIT route to expanding renewables installations, most of them the same
reasons for US hindrance of international actions to restrain menacing
climate change. In addition to the powerful lobbying and political
donations by fossil fuel interests, most US public utilities strongly
oppose an FIT program because it supports distributed electricity
production on homes and businesses where the power is used.
Investor-owned public utilities generally view this as weakening their
legal territorial monopolies. They often support renewables by building
large solar power projects which they own and control.

Meanwhile, melting is accelerating in both polar regions and sea
level is rising faster. Florida has some 6,000 miles of tidal
waterfront property along lagoons, canals, inland waterways and tidal
streams, much of it heavily developed and only a few feet above the
water. A three or four foot sea level rise, well below maximum
predictions for this century, boosting the storm surge from our typical
nor’easters or hurricanes could wreak unimaginable havoc on coastal
Florida, where 75 percent of Floridians live and work. It wouldn’t take
a superstorm to cause irreparable destruction.

As arctic temperatures rise, there is an increasing risk of methane
and carbon dioxide releases from arctic sea beds and lands, which could
make Greenland ice cap melting irreversible.

I hope government wakes up in time to protect Florida from losing
its coastal economy and ecology. Although our Governor and Legislature
reject the climate change issue, there are some solar bright spots in
our Sunshine State.